One in a million
by death Nightwalker666
Summary: A simple Change of date changes the fates of many of those in the Naruto universe
1. Prologue

**AN - Dont own Naruto or related characters, if i did i wouldn't be writing fan fiction**

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__In a Million Universes, anything is possible,_

_Terry Pratchett_

A twelve-year-old girl sat alone on the swing her long pink hair blowing gently in the wind. She had been there awhile watching the parents of her classmates congratulating their children on becoming ninja. She had been the only one to fail the final exam, even the blonde haired Naruto son of the fourth Hokage had passed as he smiled with his mum and his best friend Sasuke who was also being congratulated by his elder brother Itachi. She tried not to look at the faces of the other parents not wanting to see the hate in their eyes. She knew most of the village hated her for some reason but she did not care right now. She stood up and brushed her hair behind her ears with her hands revealing the whisker like birthmarks on her cheeks. She looked again at Naruto and smiled happy that he at least passed before running away to the small apartment the Third Hokage had given her so she would be warm and safe at night.

Naruto stood next to his mother grinning looking around to see all his friends Kiba, Choji, Shikamaru, Saskue, Shino and Hinata all wearing their head bands even the popular girl Ino had passed, but the one he was looking for wasn't there and that upset him. He cared a great deal about her because she was always sad and looked so lonely. He eventually spotted saw her on the swing starring at the ground he wanted to go to her but knew he couldn't. He listened to the other parents who were there whispering.

"Look it's her…she's the only one who didn't pass" one mother said

"Good! Could you imagine what would happen if she became a ninja" another mother said

"Shhh…you know were not supposed to talk about it" a third mother said

He wasn't surprised, he often heard his some of friends mums and dads talking about her like that and it was because of them that he couldn't go to her he knew what they would do to her if he did and it scared him.

***

Later that day, Sakura sat crying under a cherry blossom tree, she had decided not to go home but to come to her special place to vent her sadness. She had been there for an hour when she felt someone's presence next to her she looked to see Naruto smiling at her.

"Hey there Sakura what are you doing here?" he asked kindly

Sakura was shocked the boy she looked at from a far was talking to her.

"I …I co… WHAT DO YOU CARE AND WHY ARE YOU HERE?" she shouted angrily.

"I just care and I always come here to think about someone when I feel sad. Ok I answered yours now you answer mine" naruto answered while thinking. _Those whisker birthmarks on her cheeks make her look so cute._

"I failed Naruto I'm not a ninja like you I came here to just cry" Sakura answered while thinking _I bet he comes here to think about Ino when he's sad all the boys like Ino no one likes me_

Naruto's smile faded as he knelt down and gave Sakura a hug. Sakura was shocked again and blushed but she didn't return the hug she just let him hug her while crying on his shoulder she felt safe at that moment safer then she felt her entire life.

"It's ok Sakura I spoke with Iruka Sensei and asked if I could teach you the shadow clone technique before the end of the day, would he let you graduate he said he would think about it." Naruto said rubbing her back gently while trying to calm her down.

Sakura smiled and said "thank you Naruto…-Kun"

Naruto smiled he knew she was happy again she only used the suffix when she was happy which was rare for her.

"Lets get started then shall we?" naruto said

Sakura smiled, nodded and stood up…

***

Later that week, the classroom at the academy was full with the students who had passed the other day Naruto sat at the front with Sasuke, Naruto had his arms crossed and eyes closed while listening to the others all talking about who they wanted to be teamed up with

"Who do you want to be teamed with Ino?" a voice asked

"Who do you think Saskue and Naruto of cause" Ino replied

The girls kept arguing over who wanted who in there teams when he heard Ino shout.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE BILLBOARD-BROW THIS IS FOR STUDENTS WHO CAN GRADUATE!"

"OH YEAH TAKE A LOOK I GOT A HEADBAND SO THAT MEANS I'M A NINJA TOO INO-PIG SO DEAL WITH IT!"

Naruto smiled to himself, Iruka had kept his word. He opened his eyes to see Sakura sitting next to him he knew why she had it, was because she felt safe next to him. He was still surprised at how many clones she had created once she mastered the shadow clone jutsu he could make a few because of his own ridiculously large Chakra reserves but Sakura had surpassed him with her own reserve, and he knew why.

Not long after Iruka entered and said "settle down everyone." once everyone was seated Iruka started to read out the teams until finally "Ok Team Seven will be Naruto Uzumaki, Saskue Uchiha and…Sakura Haruno" all the girls gasped they couldn't believe that Sakura of all people was in the same team as the two hottest guys in the class. Sakura just smiled happy to know that she was now a ninja and was partnered with one she new would protect her.


	2. A new Sensei

**AN - Dont own Naruto or related characters, if i did i wouldn't be writing fan fiction**

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CH.1 A new Sensei

The Newly formed Team Seven were the only ones who were still waiting for their new sensei to arrive, and Team Seven had been waiting for what felt like forever. Naruto had taken to pacing backwards and forwards at the back of the class and was slowly wearing a grove in to the floor, Sasuke was sitting crossed legged on Iruka's desk and was staring at the door with a glare so intense you were convinced the door would burst into flames from fear at any minute. However, the one who the waiting was getting to the most was Sakura.

"DAMN IT! What's taking our sensei so long?" the rosette haired Kunoichi yelled while pulling her long hair in frustration.

Naruto quickly leapt to his whisker cheeked team-mates side and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and said, "Its ok Sakura-Chan I'm sure Sensei will be here soon"

The suffix quickly caught Sasuke's attention and he raised an eyebrow and wondered if Naruto had had something to do with Sakura suddenly graduating.

"NO! I am going to teach this sensei a lesson for keeping us waiting. CHA!" screamed Sakura as she placed several black bored erasers over the door all full to the brim with chalk dust. The mental image of their sensei's hair covered in chalk dust was enough to make Naruto want to burst into fits of laughter but he managed to keep it together.

Sasuke on the other hand just smirked and said "Sakura you baka, that's a good prank to pull on a Chunin but it will never work on a Jonin. Trust me I have tried to get my brother with a bucket of water and he sees it coming every time.'

This lead Sakura to just cross her eyes and stick her tongue out at Saskue, which doing so earned a chuckle from Naruto. Before Sasuke could say anything in his defence to his best friend, a yelp of surprise was heard from the doorway, in the doorway stood a Kunoichi in her mid twenties her hair covered in white chalk dust. A look of pure shock written on her face

Naruto while suppressing the urge to laugh looked over his new sensei and saw a plainly dressed Medic-Nin with the standard leaf jacket so no surprises. The only thing odd were the cracked orange goggles that hung round her neck and the pair of gloves she had on that reminded Naruto of the gloves he had see on the Anbu he saw around the village from time to time. Naruto made himself a mental note to ask her about these two odd items later.

Sakura just stood in shock over the fact that her prank had worked. However, Sasuke let himself down as he burst into laughter over how a Jonin had fallen for such a simple prank and had fallen off the desk in a laughing heap.

The jonin however just sighed as she started rubbing the chalk dust from her hair and said, "Ok knock off the laughing boy before I pound ya"

Sasuke stopped laughing and regaining his senses apologised for his outburst.

Their sensei on the other hand was looking her new team over and thought

_Hmmm the fourths son from what Iruka told me he went out of his way to help the girl graduate so I wonder…does he have some feelings for her? However, he stands away from her in my presence could it be that he is protecting her in someway? Then we have the Uchiha kid, hmm Iruka said he is very easy going at times but is calm and level-headed he may be the brains of the group. And then there's the girl the one who has the Kyuubi sealed inside her, Iruka says she has excellent stamina and is good with transformations and Taijutsu but was poor with the shadow clone jutsu until recently._

"Ok you three come with me to the lake' the sensei said in a gentle but commanding voice

"Yes sensei" her three students chirped together.

Not long after leaving the academy, Team Seven arrived at the village lake and the sensei pointed at a rock and said 'Ok you three sit in front of that rock.'

The three young Ninja did as they were told and sat while their sensei sat crossed legged on the rock opposite them but had her back to them. The Kunoichi smiled to her self before putting on a voice of fake frustration said "I said the front not the back!" the students gasped and quickly ran round to face their sensei and noticed she was smiling.

"Wha?" Sasuke said in shock

"Got ya, that was for earlier," the women said as she watched her team comically fall over backwards

This was when Sakura took note of her sensei's appearance as well and noticed she had shoulder length dark brown hair, brown eyes and red marks on her cheeks she also took note of the broken goggles because they looked out of place on someone so beautiful, she also recognised the purple-pink Skirt of a medic-nin.

"Ok listen up I want you all to tell be a little bit about yourselves stuff like a goal, favourite food and obviously your names. Ok we will start with you pinky then on to you Blondie then you boy. Ok Pinky you start"

"No! What about you" Naruto said pointing at his sensei.

"Ok Blondie. I am Rin, my favourite food is any thing made with octopus and my goal is to one day find a friend who is missing. Now you pinky" Rin explained

Sakura slowly started to speak "…I'm Sakura Haruno, my favourite food are dumplings especially from Okami's and my goal is to make lots of friends amongst the village so that they won't hate me for what ever reason they do hate me"

Rin paid attention to Sakura's fake smile and Naruto's reaction at the words hate me.

_He knows! Kushina you told him didn't you…I hope you know what you are doing or you may have placed a burden on your son's shoulders that he cannot handle. But I was right he might have feelings for her because he certainly cares about her. But the Uchiha he looks like he doesn't care or is it that he doesn't trust her…_ Rin's train of thought was disturbed by Naruto clearing his throat.

"Rin-Sensei it's my turn…" Rin smiled and nodded for him to continue, "…I'm Naruto Namikaze son of the fourth Hokage, my favourite food is Ramen but I am torn between my mums and Ichiraku's and my goal is to become the greatest of all the Hokages, BELIEVE IT!"

The way Naruto said his goal caught Rin's attention and found her self dumbfounded because she found herself believing he would be but what shocked her most was the Uchiha boy he smiled as if his friend was already Hokage and was ready and willing to follow. _Ok so Naruto is the group's leader_ Rin thought to her self then said, "ok boy it's your turn"

"Finally… My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I enjoy eating Sushi and my goal is to become head of the ANBU ready for when Naruto becomes Hokage"

"ok very good you are dismissed for the rest of the day see you tomorrow at training field seven at seven in the morning, have fun" Rin said as she vanished

"OK! Do you two want to come to my place for lunch?" Naruto asked his team-mates.

"Sorry Naruto maybe next time" Sasuke said

"More Sharingan training from Itachi?" Naruto asked a bit glumly

"Yup. And there's my weekly game of Shougi against Shikamaru."

Naruto smirked at his best friend and asked, "What's the current score?"

Shikamaru and Saskue had been holding their weekly game for two and a half years now and Naruto made sure to keep a running tally of the score.

"Seventy three to Shikamaru, five to me. See you tomorrow," Sasuke said as he casually waved to his team-mates.

Naruto smiled he knew Sasuke was good at Shougi hell he had played him a few times and had only beat his friend twice in twelve games.

"Umm is it still ok if I have lunch with you Naruto?" Sakura asked looking down at her feet.

Naruto grinned, "Of course Sakura-Chan just the two of us, you can relax a bit then. You know my mum makes nice dumplings"

At the word dumplings Sakura's emerald eyes sparkled and a big smile appeared on her face, and making sure no one was watching cuddled into Naruto's chest to which Naruto gladly returned

"Thank you Naruto-Kun" Sakura said softly

"No problem Sakura, come on lets go" he said happily.

With that, the two vanished and headed to Naruto's home. Meanwhile not far away in a tree Rin watched the whole show of their affection towards one another and thought _he only shows affection away from the other villagers could it be? …I will have to get a mission away from the village to test that theory, that is if they pass the test that is_ Rin smiled to herself and vanished from the tree and headed towards the Hokages office.


	3. Discussions

**AN - Dont own Naruto or related characters, if i did i wouldn't be writing fan fiction**

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CH.2 Discussions

Naruto darted from an alley way opposite his front door and making sure the coast was clear signalled to Sakura who was waiting. Quickly she darted out and entered the already opened door, Naruto quickly looked round making sure no one had appeared and went inside. Once inside they both took off their ninja sandals and went in to the kitchen where Naruto's mother was sat drinking some tea.

"Hey mum I brought Sakura over for lunch," Naruto said cheerfully.

"Hello Naruto hello Sakura how do you two like being ninja?" Kushina asked sweetly

"It's ok so far our new sensei Rin was late," answered Naruto

"Rin's a good girl Naruto she was your dad's student once. Now tell me what you would like to eat then you can go wash up" Kushina said smiling at her son and Sakura.

Sakura had always liked Kushina because she had never looked at her with hate in her eyes; Kushina always looks at her with nothing but kindness.

"Pork Ramen for me mum" Naruto said excitedly

"Um…Pork Dumplings please" Sakura said a bit timidly

Kushina smiled and nodded which bounced her red hair gently "very well now go wash up" as Naruto and Sakura left to go wash up Kushina heard a gentle knock at her kitchen window. Opening the window Kushina met a pair of brown eyes.

"Hello Rin what can I do for you?" Kushina asked a little worriedly

"It's about Naruto…" but Kushina held her hand up to stop Rin from continuing.

"One minute Rin. NARUTO, YOU AND SAKURA GO AND WAIT IN YOUR ROOM LUNCH WILL BE A WHILE YET OK!" Kushina shouted so Naruto would hear her and waited a few seconds before.

"OK MUM…" Naruto's voice shouted back.

Kushina started preparing the lunch for Naruto and Sakura and Rin took a seat at the table, a few seconds passed before.

"So what about Naruto, Rin?" Kushina asked her late husbands former student.

"He knows about the Kyuubi within Sakura… You wouldn't have anything to do with that now…would you?" Rin asked calmly

"Yes I told him. What of it?" asked Kushina who was now busily slicing the pork for Naruto and Sakura's lunches.

"You don't think that it is too much of a burden to place on someone so young's shoulders?"

"My son can handle it Rin. He has a heart as big as his father's maybe bigger. And he has always cared about Sakura even long before they both went to the academy"

"But what if he tells her!" Rin said shocked at how calmly Kushina was acting over the whole subject

"He won't Rin, not unless she finds out on her own and wants to tell him. The two females sat in silence again until.

"HAHAHA NARUTO STOP TICKLING ME HAHAHA" came Sakura's happy voice from the direction of Naruto's room.

"Ok I believe you I have asked for a C-ranked mission for their first, that is if they can pass my test"

"Why C-rank?" asked Kushina curiously

"Just to test a theory" Rin said Smiling and leapt through the window as Kushina put the finishing touches to the two lunches.

Kushina placed the pork dumplings and pork Ramen on the table and shouted for Naruto and Sakura to come and sit down. Not long after Naruto and Sakura strolled into the kitchen, Sakura had a warm smile on her face and Naruto was grinning happily. The sight of them together warmed Kushina's heart she knew that no matter what he would do anything to make Sakura smile.

Soon both the young ninjas were eating their lunches and even shared some of their food, when they finished eating both patted their bellies happily when suddenly Naruto let out quite an impressive belch, which quickly had him covering his mouth and blushing a deep pink from embarrassment which caused Sakura to giggle at his reaction.

Sakura stayed another hour and enjoyed a cup of green tea with both Naruto and Kushina before she decided to leave. Going to the door with Naruto she gave him a hug and thanked him for inviting her over for lunch before he opened the door and looked around outside and gave Sakura a nod to let her know it was all clear. She darted to the same alley way and headed back to her small apartment with a happy smile on her face.

***

Sakura landed softly out side her apartment door and found a woman in a trench coat and purple hair waiting the sight of the woman made Sakura happy for it was someone she had not seen in a while.

"Snake lady!" Sakura said smiling as she approached the woman who had looked after her when she was younger

"now Sakura you know my name is Anko" Anko said mockingly to Sakura even though Anko didn't mind the nickname Sakura had given her she still greeted her the same way, it was their own secret hand shake in a way.

"Hehe I know. Do you want to come in Anko-San? I can make you a cup of tea if you would like?" Sakura asked

"I would like that, thank you Sakura." Anko replied with a smile

Sakura and Anko entered Sakura's small abode and Anko made herself at home on Sakura's couch while Sakura was busy in her small kitchen making some tea.

Soon after Sakura came out with two cups and after handing one to Anko took the seat next to her.

They sat in silence drinking their yea until out of the blue Anko said

"So I see you and the fourths son are getting cosy" this comment caused Sakura to choke on her tea as she asked through her coughs "What do you mean Anko?"

"Well I heard he helped you with the shadow clone jutsu." Anko stated simply

"…Well yeah…but why do you think Naruto-Kun and me are getting cosy?" Sakura asked

"Well let's see there was the cuddle I saw you give him at the lake, and also the fact that you just used the Kun suffix with his name," Anko said with a smirk

Sakura just stared at Anko before saying "Anko-Sama I need not to tell anyone, Naruto and I want to keep our close friendship a secret" Sakura had chosen her words carefully not wanting to tell Anko her real feelings even though she trusted Anko she knew that Anko enjoyed drinking Sake too much.

Anko surprised by Sakura's words looked into the girl she saw as more of as a sister than anything and saw that she was serious "ok Sakura I won't tell anyone I swear" said Anko with a rare serious tone to her voice.

Sakura smiled and said with a smirk "thank you Snake lady"

Anko smiled before drinking the rest of her tea, said, "You know if you ever want anything you need only ask me Sakura", and with that Anko made to leave before she left Sakura said.

"I know Anko, thank you… bye Anko"

"Anytime sakura…see ya later," said Anko as she left Sakura to her thoughts

***

Across the village at the Uchiha Complex Sasuke was talking with his brother as they rested after their training session

"So I understand that Sakura Haruno is on your Genin team along with Naruto Namikaze?" Itachi asked his little brother

"Yeah so what Itachi?" Sasuke asked slightly annoyed that his bother was bringing up his female team-mate

"Just asking is all," Itachi said

"I don't trust her I know she is hated for some reason and that's why I don't trust her and I know Naruto had something to do with her suddenly graduating" Sasuke explained

"So because Naruto-san may have had something to do with her graduating you don't trust him as well?" Itachi asked concerned for his brother.

"No I trust Naruto with my life so even though I don't trust Sakura I will trust Naruto's judgement," Sasuke said

Itachi just smiled at his brother and wondered how Naruto could have this effect on his little brother when he knew how close he came to slipping into the darkness of depression after their father died when he was eight years old in that incident with those rogue Sand Shinobi while he was on a mission. Itachi smiled at his brother and said, "So let's go see what mums cooking for tea before you go off to play Shougi with Shikamaru"

"Ok Itachi" Sasuke said before entering the house

As the day came to a close three twelve year olds put there heads down for the night early ready for Rin's final test the next day each one wondering what was installed for them when they got to training ground seven in the morning


End file.
